Benares, Uttar Pradesh, India

Economy | Tourist Industry

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Varanasi is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world, even as the traditions are transformed in the face of modernisation, generational changes and emigration. The city has a syncretic tradition of Muslim artisanship that underpins its tourism. The name Varanasi was officially so revived after 1947, but the city is still widely known by its earlier name Banaras or Benares, and its ancient name Kashi. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the south-eastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 km (430ย mi) to the south-east of India's capital New Delhi, 320 km (200ย mi) south-east of the state capital, Lucknow, and 121 km (75ย mi) east of Allahabad, another Hindu pilgrimage site.

Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Buddha is recorded in the Pali canon to have given his first sermon, "The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma", at nearby Sarnath in 528 BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. During the Muslim rule during the Middle Ages, the city became an important centre of Hindu devotion, pilgrimage, mysticism and poetry contributing to its cultural importance. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. In the 16th century, the Mughal emperor Akbar built two large temples dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu in the city. Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares in 1775, the city later successively becoming a part of the Benares Division in the Ceded and Conquered Provinces, the North-Western Provinces, and the United Provinces, and after India's independence of Uttar Pradesh.

Silk weaving, carpets and crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. Varanasi is a cultural centre of northern India that has been closely associated with the Ganges. Hindus believe that dying here and being cremated along the Ganges river banks allows the cycle of rebirth to be broken and salvation to become possible. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats, steps leading down the steep river bank to the water, where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.

The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th century the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city. India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded during East India Company rule in 1791. Later education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th century. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's Non-cooperation movement.

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Economy According to the 2006 City Development Plan for Varanasi, approximately 29% of Varanasi's population is employed. Approximately 40% are employed in manufacturing, 26% work in trade and commerce, 19% work in other services, 8% work in transport and communication, 4% work in agriculture, 2% work in construction, and 2% are marginal workers (working for less than half of the year).

Among manufacturing workers, 51% work in spinning and weaving, 15% work in metal, 6% work in printing and publishing, 5% work in electrical machinery, and the rest work in a wide variety of industry sectors. Varanasi's manufacturing industry is not well developed and is dominated by small-scale industries and household production.

Silk weaving is the dominant industry in Varanasi. Muslims are the influential community in this industry with nearly half a million of them working as weavers, dyers, sari finishers, and salespersons. Weaving is typically done within the household, and most weavers are Momin Ansari Muslims. Varanasi is known throughout India for its production of very fine silk and Banarasi saris, brocades with gold and silver thread work, which are often used for weddings and special occasions. The production of silk often uses bonded child labour, though perhaps not at a higher rate than elsewhere in India. The silk weaving industry has recently been threatened by the rise of power looms and computer-generated designs and by competition from Chinese silk imports. Trade Facilitation Centre is a modern and integrated facility to support the handloom and handicraft sector in Varanasi; providing trade enhancement and facilitation to both domestic & international buyers. Hence, carrying forward the rich traditions of handlooms and handicrafts.

In the metal manufacturing sector, Banaras Locomotive Works is a major employer. Bharat Heavy Electricals, a large power equipment manufacturer, also operates a heavy equipment maintenance plant. Other major commodities manufactured and traded in Varanasi include hand-knotted Mirzapur carpets, rugs, dhurries, brassware, copperware, wooden and clay toys, handicrafts, gold jewellery, and musical instruments. Important agricultural products include betel leaves (for paan), langra mangoes and khoa (solidified milk).

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Tourist Industry Tourism is Varanasi's second most important industry. Domestic tourist most commonly visit for religious purposes while foreign tourist visit for ghats along River Ganges and Sarnath. Most domestic tourists are from Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and other parts of Uttar Pradesh, while the majority of foreign tourists are from Sri Lanka and Japan. The peak tourist season falls between October and March. In total, there are around 12,000 beds available in the city, of which about one half are in inexpensive budget hotels and one third in dharamsalas. Overall, Varanasi's tourist infrastructure is not well developed.

In 2017, InterContinental Hotels Group made an agreement with the JHV group to set up Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza hotel chains in Varanasi.

The prominent malls and multiplexes in Varanasi are JHV Mall in the Cantonment area, IP Mall in Sigra, IP Vijaya Mall in Bhelupur, Vinayak Plaza in Maldhaiya and PDR Mall in Luxa. The city has several banks, including the Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, and State Bank of India.

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Asia/Kolkata/Uttar_Pradesh 
<b>Asia/Kolkata/Uttar_Pradesh</b>
Image: Photo by Rhythmic Creations on Unsplash

Benares has a population of over 1,212,610 people. Benares also forms the centre of the wider Varanasi District which has a population of over 4,110,000 people. For the location of Benares see: Varanasi.

To set up a UBI Lab for Benares see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Benares is a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for Music see: https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Varanasi has links with:

๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ต Kathmandu, Nepal ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Kyลto, Japan
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

UNESCO Creative Cities for Music include: ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Adelaide ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Almaty ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Amarante ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Ambon ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Auckland ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฆ Banja Luka ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Benares ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ผ Bissau ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด Bogotรก ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Bologna ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Bolzano ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Brazzaville ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Brno ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ Bydgoszcz ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ช Caracas ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Chennai ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ Da Lat ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Essaouira ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Frutillar ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช Ghent ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Glasgow ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Gwalior ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Hamamatsu ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Hannover ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡บ Havana ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Idanha-a-Nova ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ Ipoh ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Kansas City ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ Katowice ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Kazan ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Kingston ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Kirsehir ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Leiria ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Liverpool ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Lliria ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Mannheim ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท Metz ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Mexicali ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ Montreux ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Morelia ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Norrkรถping ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Pesaro ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡น Port of Spain ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ป Praia ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ธ Ramallah ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Salvador ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ท Sanandaj ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท ลžanlฤฑurfa ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ด Santo Domingo ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Seville ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ญ Suphan Buri ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท Tongyeong ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท Toulouse ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด Valledupar ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Valparaรญso ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Varanasi ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท Varaลพdin ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Veliky Novgorod ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡บ Veszprรฉm ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ Vranje

Antipodal to Benares is: -96.995,-25.31

Locations Near: Benares 83.0055,25.3095

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Varanasi 83,25.317 d: 1  

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Ghazipur 83.57,25.58 d: 64.2  

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Allahabad 81.834,25.438 d: 118.6  

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Prayagraj 81.833,25.433 d: 118.6  

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Deoria 83.779,26.502 d: 153.5  

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Aurangabad 84.374,24.753 d: 151.1  

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Gorakhpur 83.383,26.759 d: 165.6  

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Kushinagar 83.888,26.741 d: 182  

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Ayodhya 82.192,26.788 d: 183.3  

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Faizabad 82.146,26.773 d: 184  

Antipodal to: Benares -96.995,-25.31

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Pisco -76.2,-13.717 d: 17488.6  

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Callao -77.15,-12.067 d: 17464.2  

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช San Isidro -77.033,-12.083 d: 17455.4  

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Lima -77.033,-12.05 d: 17453.1  

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Villa El Salvador -77,-12.05 d: 17450.2  

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Chincha Alta -76.133,-13.45 d: 17466  

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Ancรณn -77.15,-11.733 d: 17441.2  

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Ica -75.733,-14.067 d: 17467.7  

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Chimbote -78.583,-9.067 d: 17359.7  

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Trujillo -79.034,-8.103 d: 17316.5  

Bing Map

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